Hydrogen generator begins operating at Toyota's Torrance headquarters

Toyota executives have removed the equivalent of 294 cars from the roads.

A new hydrogen-run generator at the Japanese car company's Torrance campus started operating on Wednesday, with the promise to reduce 3.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

"This is another opportunity for Toyota to reduce its environmental footprint," said Bob Daly, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, the company's U.S. sales and marketing arm.

The power generation process creates no emissions, with only water and heat as by-products.

Through vehicles with high gas mileage, including the top-selling gas-electric hybrid Prius, Toyota has cultivated an image as an environmentally friendly company. The new generator, which uses a fuel cell to convert hydrogen into electricity, is part of that effort.

Toyota also expects the generator to help promote the company's hydrogen-powered vehicles by showcasing the technology. Toyota has been road-testing its fuel cell vehicles, with the first commercially available model, the FCHV-adv, to hit showrooms in 2015.

"It increases awareness of hydrogen as an alternative fuel. ... That was one of the considerations when we were evaluating the project," Daly said. "What we see here is an opportunity to use hydrogen fuel technology in a variety of ways."

When turned on Wednesday, the generator gave the hum of a large refrigerator. The device consists of two 30-foot-long containers, each weighing 31,000 pounds.

The generator produces 1.1 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 765 homes. That is twice the capacity of Toyota's existing solar panel system on the local campus.

Toyota expects the generator to supply about half the needed power for six headquarters buildings during peak demand. That will save the company about $130,000 a year in reduced energy use from the Southern California Edison electrical grid.

The fuel used by the generator comes from a hydrogen pipeline that passes next to the Toyota campus. The pipeline also supplies a Shell hydrogen station across the street used by various fuel cell vehicles.

Even as Toyota and other automakers push fuel-cell technology for consumer use, hydrogen is increasingly providing power for commercial purposes.

"These units are now being deployed commercially throughout the world," said Paul Cass, a vice president at Ballard Power Systems, which provided the generator.